diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
index 5a6d15f100..62764b8c39 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
@@ -4168,7 +4168,7 @@ virQEMUCapsInitQMPCommandRun(virQEMUCapsInitQMPCommandPtr cmd)
                                     "-no-user-config",
                                     "-nodefaults",
                                     "-nographic",
-                                    "-M", "none",
+                                    "-machine", "none",
                                     "-qmp", cmd->monarg,
                                     "-pidfile", cmd->pidfile,
                                     "-daemonize",